We were thrilled to see Eric Asimov of the New York Times include Lamoreaux Landing’s 2006 Blanc de Blanc Reserve Brut, one of our favorite Finger Lakes sparkling wines, in his latest column. No newcomers to the joys of drinking local sparkling wines, we’ve been trying to convert the masses about great Finger Lakes bubbly since we wrote this article back in 2010. It’s worth rerunning, in the hopes it gets you trying some new sparkling wines from our nearby vineyards. 

Starting With Sparkling
Finger Lakes bubbles have a great beginning

By Holly Howell

Without a doubt, grapes love getting plenty of sun and heat. But when these elements arrive in delicate and calculated amounts, the resulting wines can be some of the most expressive and captivating you will ever taste.

Case in point; Champagne, which owes its existence to the cold climate region in France that bears its name. Centuries ago, the people of Champagne tried to make regular table wine but the fluctuations in temperature caused the wines to re-ferment in the bottle, and back then bubbles in wine were considered an abomination.

After much frustration and lots of messy clean-ups, a few key folks, including the monk Dom Pérignon and the widow Veuve Clicquot, discovered a method that would change the future of sparkling wines. It involved two controlled fermentations, which included years of aging, riddling (an elaborate and time-consuming practice of rotating and shaking the bottles), disgorging (removing the cork and lees and adding a special sugar concoction) before placing special closures on the bottles. It was a long and tedious process, but it was the ultimate labor of love for these winemakers and soon French royalty were regularly serving Champagnes at their lavish supper parties.

There are less expensive and less time-consuming methods of making sparkling wine like Charmat, transfer and simple carbonation (where bubbles are injected into base wine). They work, but it is the true Champagne method that produces the world’s most complex and exquisite sparklers. The phrase “méthode champenoise” on the label is your clue that the wine was made using the labor-intensive traditional method of Champagne.

Using the exact same recipe that the French created, other countries began imitating the effort, calling the end product Champagne. The French were not happy, so a treaty was signed in the 1920s to protect the proprietary name of Champagne.

The only country that did not sign that treaty was the United States, as we were in the midst of Prohibition. In Spain, these wines are now called Cava. In Germany, they have amazing Sekts and in Italy, they worship their Prosecco, made mostly from grapes grown in the Veneto region. Predominantly, American wineries use the term “sparkling wine,” which is what we in the Finger Lakes are sipping more and more of as our winemakers realize how well our cool climate is suited for making dry, crisp varieties with fizz.

Willie Frank saw the possibilities back in the early 1980s. After watching his father, Dr. Konstantin Frank, work with Charles Fournier (a former French Champagne maker), Willie realized the climatic chemistry of the Finger Lakes was textbook perfect for producing premium sparkling wines. He founded Chateau Frank on Keuka Lake (sister winery to Dr. Frank), and  planted all the traditional grapes of Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Today, Chateau Frank makes an incredible lineup of méthode champenoisewines, including the delightful Célèbre Rosé, made from 100% Pinot Meunier grapes.

“Sparkling wine is destined to be the next signature specialty of this region,” says Fred Frank, Willie’s son and current winery owner.

Fred Merwarth of Hermann J Wiemer vinyards. PHOTO/Zoe Becker

Other wineries concur and are committing cellar space and staff time towards producingthese bubbly wines. Casa Larga in Fairport makes the Fiori Delle Stelle Blanc de Blanc, meaning “white from white,” produced from 100% white Chardonnay grapes. Hermann J.Wiemer produces a Blanc de Noir, meaning “white from black.” It is composed predominantly from the red grape Pinot Noir. Glenora Wine Cellar’s Brut is an elegant blend of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. And Atwater Estates Cuvee Brut is a crisp Finger Lakes mix of Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Riesling. These, and many more, are all méthode champenoise.

Dave Peterson, manager of Swedish Hill Winery and Goose Watch Winery on Cayuga Lake, offers several styles. The toasty Swedish Hill Brut is a perfect 50/50 Chardonnay/Pinot Noir blend made in the méthode champenoise style. The berry-laden Goose Watch Pinot Noir Brut Rosé is a Charmat tank-fermented style, which has earned recognition as a Best of Show at multiple international competitions.

Sadly, many people save sparkling wines for special occasions, but they are truly meant for everyday consumption.

Finger Lakes sparkling wines tend to be more “fruit-forward” than the European versions, with mouth-watering acidity that makes them refreshing and food friendly at the table. They can pair wonderfully with just about anything and are the ideal aperitif served with the fresh cheeses, breads and creamy dips often set out before dinner. They are especially delicious with the salty, spicy fried foods often served at summertime barbecues.

Since every day is a celebration of life, the stunning effervescent wines of New York should be an integral part of all summer festivities, whether a wedding, a brunch with friends or a simple lakeside dinner for two. If trying to decide when a sparkling wine is appropriate, consider the oft-repeated words of Madame Lilly Bollinger, a legendary figure in the world of Champagne and former proprietress of the Bollinger Champagne house:

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it—unless I’m thirsty.”

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of Edible Finger Lakes. We’ll be writing about more Finger Lakes sparkling wines as we approach the New Year celebrations.  

Holly Howell is a certified specialist of wine through the Society of Wine Educators and a certified sommelier through the Master Court of Sommeliers. She writes bi-weekly wine columns for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and teaches wine and food pairing classes.

One of the joys of belonging to a CSA is when a surprise veggie shows up in the weekly box. We’ve come to learn that Finger Lakes farmers are an experimenting bunch of green-thumbers, playing around with various seeds and specialties, all in the hopes of giving their customers something delicious and interesting to stretch their culinary skills.

For the past couple of weeks the Full Plate Farm collective has included Romanesco, an unusual looking member of the brassica species (which is where broccoli and cauliflower reside too). We thought you’d like reading what we’ve done with this spiky, knobby bit of produce. It’s a visual treat for those of you that are bored with hum drum broccoli.

 Zesty and Spicy Romanesco 

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 Romanesco Cauliflower
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon Olive Oil (or bacon drippings you decadent, flavor hounds)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced shallots
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Separate the romanesco florets with your fingers and place in a small stock pot with 3 tablespoons of water. Bring this to a boil and close the pan with a tight lid. Let it cook for two minutes on medium heat, then remove and immediately plunge the florets in cold water to stop the cooking.

Heat a large pan and toast the walnuts for two to three minutes. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil in the pan over medium high heat. Sauté the shallots until they turn brown and start to crisp up. Add the chili flakes and cook for one minute. Stir in the garlic and the drained florets and sauté gently on medium heat for four minutes. Add the walnuts and remove from the heat. Drizzle the lemon juice over the mix and toss to coat. Serve alongside roast pork or a creamy mac and cheese.

Have a favorite recipe for Romanesco? Let us know! 

Wheels of gleaming Dutch style cheese from Finger Lakes Farmstead cheese in Mecklenburg. PHOTO/Carole Topalian

As part of our focus on Finger Lakes cheesemakers, we’re turning our attention to Nancy Richards, one the most well-loved food artisans in the region. She’s got such a large fan base that she won our first ever Local Heroes contest for Favorite Food Artisan in the Finger Lakes back in 2009. Here’s the piece we wrote back when she got the Edible Blue Ribbon. 

Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese
By Trent Preszler

Ten years ago you would have found Nancy Taber Richards on the other side of this article, working as a newspaper reporter in Bar Harbor, Maine.

“It was a period of time when milk prices were unbelievably low and most Northeast dairy farms weren’t economically viable,” Nancy said.  “One of my brothers had been involved on a Schuyler County board looking at how cheese making could improve profitability of local dairy farms.”

Nancy Richards of Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese PHOTO/Carole Topalian

So in 2000, Nancy returned home to the 700-acre Mecklenburg farm she grew up on to start making cheese from the cows on her family’s farm. Along the way she met Jan Beuzekom, an artisanal cheese maker from the Swiss Alps who became her business partner.  In addition to helping Nancy design and build her operation, he also taught her how to make cheese.

Before Nancy could get the full benefit of Jan’s tutelage, his visa expired and he was forced to leave the country. Nancy has since soldiered on and taught herself artisanal cheesemaking through trial and error, lots of study and a good deal of determination.

Her most sought after cheese is “Schuyler,” an aged Gouda that is nutty and rich.  Another cheese called “Red Meck” is produced like Gouda but aged with a red bacterial rind in the manner of Muenster.

The whole family helps run the farm and care for the milking herd of 50 Holsteins.  The cows graze on pasture during the warmer months, and in winter are fed a mix of home-grown corn sileage, hay, and grains such as triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).  Even Nancy’s kids are involved, bringing her family’s farming heritage full cycle.

fingerlakes-cheese.com, 5491 Bergen Road, Mecklenburg, 607.387.3108

For more stories on Finger Lakes cheesemakers and a guide to all the different cheesemakers in the region, be sure to pick up a copy of the Fall 2012 issue of Edible Finger Lakes in any of these locations. Or be a subscriber and never miss an issue!

A chicken in every pot and a bottle of Finger Lakes Riesling to braise it in. PHOTO/Carole Topalian

Coq Au Riesling
By Jennifer Baskerville Burrows (adapted from Jamie Oliver Magazine)

Serves 4

1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 750ml bottle of dry Riesling
1 bouquet garni (celery stem, bay leaf, and a sprig each of flat-leaf parsley and thyme, tied with kitchen string)
Olive oil
3-4 slices of thick bacon, cubed
8 ounces of button mushrooms (white or cremini will work)
12 pearl onions, peeled
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

In a large glass bowl or sealable plastic bag, marinate the chicken in the wine and bouquet garni for a minimum of 12 hours, preferably overnight.

Remove chicken from the marinade (reserve marinade and bouquet garni), pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Over medium high heat, warm enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large frying pan.  Add the chicken to the pan and brown pieces on both sides.  Remove from pan and set aside. If necessary, add more oil to pan.  Add bacon and sauté for five minutes.  Add mushrooms and onions and sauté another five minutes, or until softened.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Transfer bacon-mushroom mixture to a large, cast-iron pan with a lid.  Add the chicken pieces, place on medium heat, then add flour and stir with a wooden spoon for a few minutes.  Add wine and bring to a boil.

Season with salt and pepper, add bouquet garni and stir well.  Cover, transfer dish to oven and cook for 45 minutes, or until chicken is tender and sauce has thickened.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with buttered egg noodles.

Viva Taqueria’s Tofu Mole’ using tofu from Ithaca Soy

One of the things we love about covering the local foods scene of the Finger Lakes is discovering the business-to-business success stories. If a farmer has a supply of something that a local chef or food producer needs and they’ve figured out how to work together so we all eat better, then we’re good and gleeful over here at Edible about sharing that story with the rest of you.

In our Fall 2012 issue, we wrote about Tony Potenza, a venerable Trumansburg farmer, and Thom Trause, the long time owner of Ithaca Soy. Tony specializes in soybeans, Thom makes tofu from soybeans. Hence, a match made in culinary heaven. But it turns out there’s a trifecta here. Viva Taqueria, one of Ithaca’s well-loved restaurants, is also involved. They take Thom’s tofu and turn it into a knockout of a dish: Tofu Mole’ Enchiladas with cubes of tofu and cheese layered in a corn tortilla and smothered with rich dark mole’ sauce. So even if you’re not a tofu fanatic, we think you’ll enjoy this dish, knowing that three great local businesses are benefitting from your culinary patronage. Eat up.

For more stories on Finger Lakes food relationships, be sure to pick up a copy of the Fall 2012 issue of Edible Finger Lakes in any of these locations. Or be a subscriber and never miss an issue!

Elderberry Pond Po-tay-toes PHOTO/Doug Reilly

From the Elderberry Pond website.

SOUPS-TO-GO

Elderberry Pond uses their own leeks, potatoes and garlic for this creamy soup.

Our soups are made from the certified organic produce and pasture raised meats from our farm. We select varieties that work best and maintain color and texture during the slow cooking process.  For our Potato Leek soup we use russet type potatoes or an all purpose potato like “Purple Viking” (picture on right).  We plant these in early spring and hill them every week or so to prevent weeds and keep moisture in the row. Our favorite Leeks for soup are “King Richard”.  They grow quickly and have long straight shanks. We use our “Music” garlic in the recipe.  It has a strong but not hot flavor.

Butter, leeks, potatoes and cream, what’s not to like?

POTATO LEEK SOUP

3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 medium leeks, cleaned and chopped
1 quart chicken stock
4 medium potatoes (baking or all purpose), diced
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the onion and garlic in a saucepan until translucent.
Add the chopped leeks, continue cooking over low heat until semi-translucent.
Add chicken stock and potatoes, cook until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
Puree mixture with food processor, blender, or hand held buerre mixer.
Add cream, return to low heat.
Cook 10 to 15 more minutes. Adjust seasonings.

Red Russian Kale from Finger Lakes Farms makes for a great chopped salad. PHOTO/Robyn Wishna

Chopped Kale Salad with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger-Soy Vinaigrette
Recipe by Christina McKeough

Serves 4

1 large bunch kale (Dinosaur, Red, Curly), stripped from the stem and chopped very fine
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted with a sprinkle of oil and salt

Dressing
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil

Combine first 5 dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Store in the refrigerator.

In a large salad bowl, mix the kale, pumpkin seeds and dressing to taste (you won’t need all the dressing). Serve immediately.

Pair with Hosmer Winery 2011 Dry Riesling

This recipe appears in the Fall 2012 issue of Edible Finger Lakes magazine in the What’s in Season section. 

Wheels of cheese from Northland Sheep Dairy in Marathon

In our current issue of the magazine, we went all out to highlight Finger Lakes cheese and cheesemakers. But in our first year of publishing we wrote about one of our favorite cheese makers in the region. We thought you’d appreciate rereading this piece or reading it for the first time here. 

FIELDS OF PLENTY
By James Held
NORTHLAND SHEEP DAIRY
Maryrose tends her flock and makes cheese

“I don’t know how many people tell me ‘I never knew you could get milk from sheep!” Maryrose Livingston, owner of Northland Sheep Dairy in Marathon, exclaims as she strides out into her pasture. With each bite, more and more of her customers are discovering that sheep milk actually makes for great tasting cheese.

“People expect the pungency of goat cheese, but sheep cheeses have an entirely different character,” she says.

The cheeses from Northland have a nuttier flavor than the tangy goat cheese—with some variations tasting of butterscotch and even wild mushrooms—and are made in the cave-aging method that the French and Spanish have used for centuries.

“Hello, my darlings! Come here my darlings!” Maryrose calls out as she climbs over the fence to greet her flock. The sheep quickly trot to her side for their daily rubdowns, bells clinking.

“I have lost only one sheep to coyotes because I believe the bells scare off predators,” Maryrose says, taking stock.

“This one’s my favorite,” she coos, and points to an ewe with a speckled face. “She’s so beautiful.”

A trio of sheep at Northland Sheep Dairy in Marathon.

The flock is a mix of crossbreed Dorsets, Texels and East Friesians.

“I do everything for them: shear, trim their hooves, vaccinate and milk.”

With a herder as loving as Maryrose it’s no wonder her sheep turn out such creamy, healthy milk.

“We sometimes put it into our coffee but it’s too rich to drink a glass of,” she says. Which is a good thing, given that sheep don’t produce the quantities that cows do.

“I know this is laughable to dairy farmers,” Maryrose notes, “but sheep yield at maximum two quarts daily. The milk, however, contains over 6 percent butterfat, the highest of any dairy breed, and is rich in calcium, vitamins C and E and far easier to digest.”

As with cows, pregnancy stimulates milk production in ewes.

“Our four rams breed each November, but sheep have short annual lactation periods and most give milk for only five months. Truthfully,” she confesses, “I don’t miss milking during cold winters.”

Few people take on their profession with the kind of joy and passion that Maryrose does,

Maryrose Livingston coddling her sheep.

“I love farming and I like making cheese,” she says.

From the time she was 9 years old she knew she wanted to farm. The pivotal moment was on a family trip to Ireland. “I saw a cow being milked. I knew immediately, that’s for me.”

She went to college to study “how to milk a cow,” she says laughing. Following graduation from college she worked and traveled all over the world, from France to New Zealand, learning as much as she could about farming and cheese making. When she and her husband Donn, who owns and works the farm with her, finally settled back into the United States, they both dreamed of farming full time but in Western Washington, where she worked as an environmental regulator, agricultural land was too expensive.

They began looking elsewhere and were surprised that farmland was not readily available. It wasn’t until they made contact with a realtor in the Finger Lakes that they finally found what they were looking for.

Their first farm came with cows and was in Locke, on the eastern side of Cayuga Lake. From the start they loved the area but not the farm. On a trip to England to hone her cheese making skills Maryrose worked on a sheep dairy and fell in love with the animals.

Upon returning home she looked for a sheep dairy to buy. Through a Cheese Makers Guild, Maryrose found Jane and Karl North, the owners of Northland Sheep Dairy who were looking to sell their farm.

After some time of working with the Norths, Maryrose and Donn took over and bought the farm for themselves.

These days, once the morning milking is finished Maryrose pours the milk into a large soup kettle and warms the contents over an open flame. Next she stirs in starting cultures and organic, microbial rennet to separate the curds from the whey, a by-product her pigs relish. The cardoon plants outside her passive-solar, straw-bale home produce saffron-like blossoms that yield a variety of rennet, which curdles milk, the primary step in cheese making.

“I cut the curd then press and weight the two- to eight-pound wheels to squeeze out the excess moisture.”

All of the cheeses she produces go through a cave aging process in one of two underground caves built under her house. Blue cheeses have their own room or else “all the cheeses would be blue,” Maryrose explains.

Descending into her underground treasure trove, the damp chill can’t diminish the aromas of ripening wheels arranged in rows on wooden racks.

“It took a year to develop the right atmospheric balance of yeast and bacteria,” she says as her voice echoes off the walls. “The summer temperature is 60 degrees, although I’d like it a little cooler. In winter, the caves hover around 45, so seasonally cheeses ripen at different rates.”

When asked about her rinds Maryrose picks up a wheel and says, “I have always loved the profile of natural rinds. Waxing gives a pristine exterior, and I was worried customers would freak out at the cheese’s rough appearance, but fortunately everyone loves that rustic character.”

One method she uses for sealing the cheese, which also allows it to breathe, is to crust the wheels in salt.

“Salt is necessary for preservation, and the Cardonbert and blue cheese are dry-rubbed. I bandage the cheese in cloth to support the wheel’s weight until it firms with age,” she says.

“Folie Bergere, Tomme Bergere and the Pecorino-style Bergerino, however, are washed in salt water, leaving a yellow, whey-tinged hue in the tanks of brine. The whole process of creating natural-rind cheeses is less forgiving. If the pH isn’t right the rind won’t set. You can’t get away with even small mistakes, so it forces me to become a better cheese maker.”

Maryrose’s entire annual output of 1,500 pounds of cheese is sold at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market.

“I’m told by wholesalers I can’t supply, ‘Why don’t you just get bigger?’ It’s because I know what this farm can sustain!”

Controlling every facet of production gives this husband/wife team tremendous satisfaction. “I love what I do,” Maryrose says with her big, charming grin.

This winter she’s using her off-the-farm time to visit different Spanish cheese makers to learn what techniques she can bring back to the farm. And with luck, we’ll be sampling her creations a year from now when the wheels come out of the caves and onto our market shelves.

A version of this article originally appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Edible Finger Lakes.

For more stories on Finger Lakes cheesemakers and a guide to all the different cheesemakers in the region, be sure to pick up a copy of the Fall 2012 issue of Edible Finger Lakes in any of these locations. Or be a subscriber and never miss an issue!

Northland Sheep Dairy also sells lamb, mutton, gorgeous sheepskin rugs and other wool products at the Ithaca Farmers Market. northlandsheepdairy.com, 607.849.4442

James Held is a freelance writer in New York. His writing appeared in Edible East End and Edible Jersey.

For the local cheese lovers (and cheese makers) out there, this one is for you.

You’ve been e-mailing, calling and Facebooking us and we’re finally able to tell you when the fall issue is coming…right now! Subscriber copies are hitting mailboxes all over the region and beyond, and from what our readers are telling us, this is our best issue yet.

Maybe that’s because we decided to focus on what just about everyone loves to eat: (except you poor lactose intolerant folks) CHEESE. And thanks to some hard working farmers, we have plenty to write about.

If you’re a subscriber, check your mailbox if you haven’t received it already. If you aren’t a subscriber, now is a perfect time to join the community of savvy local foods enthusiasts in the Finger Lakes.

Or if you prefer to buy your magazines one by one, we’ll be placing copies in these locations over the next couple of weeks.

So pick up a copy and tell us what you think. Best issue yet? Or was Spring 2010 better? Maybe that Wine Issue we did last year was tops? You be the judge. We just want to be sure you keep reading…and eating and drinking great food from ’round here.

Hydroponic strawberries from Seneca Breeze near Penn Yan.

Paul and Kathryn Cooley – Seneca Breeze Berries, Penn Yan
Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty Member Spotlight
By Elizabeth Dubovsky

Strawberries are usually one of the first signs of summer in the Finger Lakes, the harbinger of long sunny days ahead.  Thanks to Paul and Kathryn Cooley in Penn Yan, strawberries are now part of our region’s fall harvest season too, with their fresh, hydroponically-raised strawberries available from mid-June until Halloween.

Kathryn Cooley of Seneca Breeze

The Cooleys, members of Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty – a regional food network that promotes local cuisine – are the perfect example of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Finger Lakes food community.  In 2009 they decided to start their own strawberry farm, Seneca Breeze Berries.  While at first their vision was to simply start a U-Pick strawberry farm, their plans soon evolved and they decided to develop a vertical hydroponic strawberry farm instead, making Seneca Breeze Berries a unique addition to the local farming landscape.

Using a special Hydro-Stacker hydroponic system, the strawberries are grown in a sterile media, a combination of perlite and vermiculite.  The perlite allows wicking of the nutrients, while the vermiculite retains the nutrients and moisture until the plants need it.  Each year 14,000 new strawberry plants are planted.

Today, Seneca Breeze Berries is not only a thriving operation that provides consumers with delicious berries and homemade jams, but it’s become an educational farm as well.  Aspiring growers and groups travel from all over to visit.  Seneca Breeze Berries has also become the New York State distributor for Hydro-Stacker, providing local residents and growers with the equipment and resources they need to produce their own vertical hydroponic fruit and vegetable gardens.

For the Cooleys, the most satisfying part of building their own hydroponic strawberry farm has been people’s reactions when they see Seneca Breeze Berries’ facility and taste the strawberries.  Paul notes that their customers thank them for being there and especially appreciate the fact that Seneca Breeze Berries takes extra care to have a minimal impact on the local environment.

So strawberry lovers rejoice; you can now savor local, sustainably-raised strawberries into the crisp, cool days of fall.  Strawberry apple pie, anyone?

You can visit Seneca Breeze Berries to pick your own berries or take a tour of their farm and learn more about growing hydroponics. 

 Also visit Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty to learn more about food producers and markets from around the Finger Lakes that are committed to providing high quality local foods and promoting a sustainable regional food system.